The "Three Colours" Trilogy

The Three Colours Trilogy by Krzysztof Kieślowski (1941-1996) is generally regarded as a major triumph of European cinema. An examination of how the ideals of the French Revolution--liberty, equality and fraternity--have meaning in modern life, the trilogy combines visual elegance, narrative complexity, and virtuoso performances to extraordinary effect. In this highly personal appreciation of the trilogy, Geoff Andrew analyzes how Kieślowski used his command of the cinema to open up the inner lives of his characters and to chart the way in which these lives are ruled by unseen forces. For Andrew, the trilogy is a poignant, thrilling hymn to the resilience of compassion in the face of adversity. Tracing the links between the trilogy and Kieslowski's earlier work, he argues that Blue (1993), White, and Red (both 1994) are the summation of Kieślowski's art. This book, which concludes with one of the last interviews Kieślowski ever gave, is a tribute to an exceptional filmmaker.